Bulgarian tennis player, Grigor Dimitrov retires from Wimbledon Open Due to a groin injury. The three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist retired from his first-round match at Wimbledon against American opponent Steve Johnson after having a medical evaluation.
The Steve Johnson vs Grigor Dimitrov match took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England. Winning the first set 6-4, Dimitrov was trailing 5-2 in the second when the 18th seeded Bulgarian stopped playing on No. 2 Court. Previously, Dimitrov has reached the last four at the All England Club in 2014.
Dimitrov was in action at Queen’s last week in preparation for Wimbledon. He defeated Cameron Norrie in the opening round. However, the 31-year-old then lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in the round-of-16.
Grigor Dimitrov withdraws from Wimbledon Open after injury scare
Underperforming in the recent past at Grand Slams, Grigor Dimitrov looked forward to have a good Wimbledon Open. However he withdrew from the tournament during his first round match against Steve Johnson due to a groin injury. The Bulgarian has underperformed at Grand Slams this year; losing in the second round at the Australian Open and the third round at the French Open.
Before entering the English Grand Slam, Dimitrov has won eight titles and reached the semi-finals in three of the four Grand Slams. Wanting to end the search for a Grand Slam, he headed into Wimbledon this year.
A sad moment for Grigor Dimitrov, who is forced to retire from his first round match against Steve Johnson#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/XI2QKG9hsM
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2022
Grigor Dimitrov said “I still believe that. I’ve had it on quite a few occasions. The past slams I’ve had good results. Now, unfortunately, I just have to play very, very good players early on second, third round.”
He added, “But I believe that there’s a lot more to come on my end. I think I can push through it and who knows when, what and where? But the only thing that I need to focus on is how I’m going to go on and about.”
Grigor came back from a set down to beat Cameron Norrie at Queen’s before a straight-sets defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp in the round of 16. The Bulgarian tennis player is yet to reach a Grand Slam final with three semi-final exits across his career coming here in 2014, the Australian Open in 2017 and the US Open in 2019.
Grigor Dimitrov beat Steve Johnson in their first ever meeting in the second round of Wimbledon back in 2015. However, Johnson returned the favour a year later, winning a third round encounter.